The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Forest Inventory and Analysis Program conducted the Nevada Photo-Based Inventory Pilot in an effort to improve precision in estimates of forest parameters, reduce field data collection costs on margin lands that are covered by slow growing woodland species, and address the potential of strategic-level inventory on...

Mass timber structures have the potential to change wooden construction on a global scale. Numerous mass timber high-rise buildings are in planning, under development or already built and their performance will alter how architects and engineers view wood as a material. To date, the discussion of material durability and biodegradation in these structures has been...

Salt damage is a frequent problem in wood exposed to seawater and other saline environments. Symptoms of salt damage are often referred to as fuzzy wood and have been historically considered non-structural damage, but a growing number of customer inquiries have prompted a re-evaluation of this phenomenon. This paper details several case studies involving salt damage,...

Users of Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) data sometimes compare historic and current forest inventory estimates, despite warnings that such comparisons may be tenuous. The purpose of this study was to demonstrate a method for obtaining a more accurate and representative reference dataset using data collected at co-located plots (i.e., plots that were measured...

The annual forest inventory of New Mexico began as an accelerated inventory, and 8 of the 10 Phase 2 panels were sampled between 2008 and 2011. The inventory includes a large proportion of nonresponse. FIA's estimation process uses post-stratification and assumes that nonresponse occurs at random within each stratum. We construct an estimator for the New Mexico...

Each of the U.S. Forest Service?s Forest Inventory and Analysis (FIA) regions has an occasional need to intensify the national sampling grid. A variety of methodologies exist within the various FIA regions and National Forest Systems regions for constructing plot intensifications, and there is no consensus on a national procedure The primary objectives of this paper...

In prior national mapping efforts, the country has been divided into numerous ecologically similar mapping zones, and individual models have been constructed for each zone. Additionally, a hierarchical approach has been taken within zones to first mask out areas of nonforest, then target models of tree attributes within forested areas only. This results in many models...

The Cope?s Giant Salamander Dicamptodon copei is a stream dwelling amphibian reliant on cool streams, native to forested areas primarily west of the crest of the Cascade Range in the Pacific Northwest region, USA. Unlike other members of the genus, adult D. copei are most often found in a paedomorphic form, and rarely transforms to a terrestrial stage. As a result,...

Surface coatings of melamine-modified urea-formaldehyde resins (MUFs) containing ammonium polyphosphate (APP) have been shown to significantly improve the fire retardancy of wood by prolonging the ignition time and reducing the heat release rate, total heat released, and mass loss rate. Dual protection of wood against both decay and fire has been proposed for remedial...

Copper based waterborne wood preservatives are frequently used to extend the service life of wood products used in outdoor environments. While these copper based treatments protect the wood from fungal decay and insect attack, they increase the corrosion of metals embedded or in contact with the treated wood. Over the past ten years, several studies have looked at the...

Improved estimates of the long-term durability of treated wood products are needed to guide choices about construction materials and allow estimates of design life. This report summarizes the long-term decay and insect resistance of treated wood post and lumber specimens placed in ground contact at a test site of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service,...

Many of the ecological processes in the riparian forests and streams across the Pacific Northwest have become impaired through production forestry practices common prior to the 1990s. Some of these practices included forest harvest without stream buffers, removal of instream wood, road construction and use, and harvesting large proportions of watersheds. Passive...